MIAMI, Florida, CMC – Trinidad & Tobago Soca Warriors and St Kitts & Nevis Sugar Boyz kick off their campaign in the CONCACAF Gold Cup on Sunday in the United States, where they meet in an all-Caribbean Football Union affair.
The Sugar Boyz, the CFU’s No. 12 ranked side, will be looking to add another chapter to their historic run to the group stage of the tournament with an upset win over the Soca Warriors, the CFU’s No. 3 ranked side, in the match at the DRV PNK Stadium in the city of Fort Lauderdale in the state of Florida.
CFU No. 1 Haiti will seek to give guest team Qatar a chilly reception when they face off at the NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas, where eight-time champions Mexico meet Honduras in the nightcap of a doubleheader.
This Gold Cup has already been a dream come true for St Kitts and Nevis after they qualified for the preliminary stage as a League C group winner from the 2022-23 Concacaf Nations League. Still, the group stage of this tournament is familiar territory for T&T in what is their 12th appearance.
The Boyz have defied the odds to get to this stage, and they will again depend on their all-around team effort to get past opponents that have beaten them 12 out of 13 times.
Their captain and goalkeeper, Julani Archibald, has been a tower of strength between the uprights, and the dynamic duo of Tiquanny Williams and Tyquan Terrell have been wreaking havoc and will keep the T&T defense busy.
There is plenty of experience on the Warriors side, beginning with Columbus Crew winger Kevin Molino and former Inter Miami defender Joevin Jones.
Molino has played in 10 Gold Cup matches across three different editions and has four career goals. Jones also has 10 Gold Cup appearances in three other editions and was the top scorer for T&T in the Nations League with three goals.
The Haitians have met the Qataris only once, a 1-0 victory for the Caribbean squad in an international friendly 13 years ago at the Khalifa International Stadium in Rayyan, Qatar.
Haiti came close to winning the tournament four years ago when eventual champions Mexico needed extra time to beat them in the semi-finals, which speaks to their pedigree. At least 11 players from that squad return for this edition.
Duckens Nazon leads them with seven goals in Gold Cup play, and he is one of the many options up front for the Haitians, alongside Carnejy Antoine, their leading scorer with five items in the Nations League.
Qatar are back for their second appearance in the Gold Cup after making their debut two years ago when they were one win away from the final before falling to eventual champions, the United States.
For the fifth time in the Gold Cup, Mexico, and Honduras are group foes, and they also meet for the second time in this competition in Houston, where they played in the 2011 semi-finals.
The Mexicans will field almost the squad they did for the Nations League final, only substituting Roberto Alvarado for the injured Alexis Vega.
Honduras has championship aspirations, and they hoped to re-create the run to the final in the tournament’s inaugural edition 32 years ago.
Mexico lead the all-time series with four wins, twice tying and once losing to Honduras in one of the most frequently played matches in the history of the Gold Cup.
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